AU HOOPS: Season ends for Tigers in NIT quarterfinals

Rasheem Barrett dropped down to all fours shortly behind the 3-point arc, his missed 3-pointer at the buzzer clutched in Baylor guard Henry Dugat’s hands.

The red square lit up around Auburn’s backboard signaled the end of his career and he couldn’t bear to watch.

“I was taking whatever they were giving me,” Barrett said. “I had a wide open look. It just hit back of the rim.”

Auburn’s 74-72, NIT quarterfinal loss to Baylor at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday ended the careers of Auburn’s four seniors about as heart-wrenchingly as can be imagined.

“Any time you lose by 2 points, it hurts more than losing by 30,” Barrett said. “As a senior, you never want to go out like that.”

But it wasn’t any easier for junior DeWayne Reed.

The soft-spoken point guard missed back-to-back free throws with 8.5 seconds to play, which kept Auburn behind by 1 and set up Barrett’s final, desperate heave.

“We wanted to go out with a bang with our seniors,” Reed said. “We wanted to keep it going. But I missed those two free throws.”

Those misses, his third and fourth of the game from the foul line, wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for a frantic Auburn rally with less than 2 minutes to play.

Auburn trailed by 7 after an uncontested Dugat layup with 1:36 to play. Auburn hadn’t had the lead during the entire second half and all indications — i.e., Baylor having no trouble breaking Auburn’s press — pointed toward the Bears coasting onto the NIT Final Four.

Then something snapped.

“You could see the grit and determination the last two minutes of the game,” coach Jeff Lebo said. “We’re kind of like junkyard dogs. We keep playing, keep playing and battling.”

Tay Waller knocked down an off-balance 3-pointer to cut the lead to 4. A manic defensive stand on the other end — where it seemed at least two Auburn defenders were in the Baylor ballhandlers’ faces at every moment — directly translated into another Auburn 3, this one from Barrett, to bring Auburn within a point.

It also brought out the loudest from the 6,582 in attendance.

“Auburn is a very respected team, they fight to end and a very good team will do that,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “We knew that both teams want to go to New York and wanted to keep winning.”

Quantez Robertson swatted two Baylor in-bounds passes out of bounds before causing the third to deflect off a Baylor player into the Auburn bench. The Tigers had the ball back with 15.7 seconds remaining and a chance to win.

“Quantez Robertson has been a player that competes every day here,” Lebo said. “You just see him during game day, but he competes every day and every drill so that is not surprising to see him do what he did out there at the end.”

The ball was in Reed’s hands from there, as he drove hard to the lane and was knocked on his back. One free throw would tie it. Two would put Auburn on top for the first time since late in the first half.

The first clanged off the back rim and fell to the left. The second was painful instant replay — not just from Tuesday’s game, but from an entire season of woeful foul shooting.

“We have had numerous games where free-throw shooting has cost us,” Lebo said. “This one was another one.”

The scene following Barrett’s miss at the horn signified that this one was tougher than the previous 11.

Robertson flopped onto his stomach, his jersey wrapped around his head. Barrett didn’t get up from his squat until Baylor assistant coach
Jerome Tang reached out to console him.

As the reality sunk in and the players slowly sauntered off the floor, Reed flung his jersey over his face and walked toward the locker room.
Johnnie Lett popped from behind him and slipped Reed’s jersey back down so he could face the cheering fans.

“I know I hurt my teammates, but I know they’re going to stick in with me,” Reed said. “The seniors did a good job helping us come together as a team, and I’m really going to miss them a lot.”

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The star: LaceDarius Dunn spurred the Bears early and led all scorers with 19 points.
The co-star: Curtis Jerrells added 16 points for Baylor.
Auburn’s best: Rasheem Barrett was consistent all game – his final at Auburn – and led the Tigers with 16 points.
It was over when…: Barrett’s 3 clanged off the rim at the buzzer and ended Auburn’s season.